The Tri Town Times: 7/24/23

• Posted on 24 July 2023
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

This week: How to base train.
Image: Veronika V putting the miles.

Hi all,

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:

Weekend race report:

- I counted more than 40 people from the Treasure Valley competing at 70.3 Oregon on Sunday. Danielle Lewis of Boise dominated the women's pro field and defended her title from last year, and Lionel Sanders won the men's pro race.

- Jonas Vingegaard started the critical Stage 16 time trial with only 10 seconds over archrival Tadej Pogacar. Having never won a World Tour time trial before, Jonas put on a performance for the ages, and extended his lead by 1min 38seconds. The following day saw Pogacar crack in the mountains, allowing Jonas to extend his lead to over 7 minutes and effectively secure his second Tour de France victory.

Training thoughts:

I recently had a friend stop by the shop and we got to talking about marathon training. He has a couple events planned for the year: an early season race (that went okay), and a late season race in December. His question was what to do during the long six month window of time between races. I pulled Arthur Lydiard's book, Running to the Top, off the shelf and thumbed to the chapter on marathon training. There is a short, easily overlooked passage preceding a marathon training schedule that is the key to marathon success. The passage reads as follows:

For as long as possible:

Monday: Long aerobic running, 60 minutes.

Tuesday: Long aerobic running, 90 minutes.

Wednesday: Long aerobic running, 60 minutes.

Thursday: Long aerobic running, 90 minutes.

Friday: Long aerobic running, 60 minutes.

Saturday: Long aerobic running, 60 minutes.

Sunday: Long aerobic running, 120 minutes or more.

My friend said it looks like a recipe for overtraining. Yet overtraining syndrome (OTS) is often caused by jumping too quickly into faster paced, hard training without first spending as long as possible building your endurance, durability, and strength at a comfortable rate that your body can handle.

I added only one qualifier to Lydiard's passage: you cannot run too slow.

The best athletes I know love this type of training. It excites them. This is the time you simply get to love the sport without the pressure of a stop watch, heart rate monitor, power meter, etc. You explore new terrain, train with friends, and just get out and play, all the while listening to your body and adjusting the duration or pace based on the realities of the day to day.

This training has a very simple name: base training. As simple and monotonous as it looks, neglecting it is the reason many athletes fail to meet their goals. Many simply fail to do the proper base training before they begin the "real" training.

After you've spent as long as possible establishing base fitness, you can begin the more specific training that will get you race ready.

Quote that struck a chord: 

"It takes four years of training to begin training for an Ironman." - Mark Allen, 6x Ironman World Champion.

If you have a moment to spare:

An unusually honest and raw post race interview from the Tour.

Train smart and have a great week!

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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